halloween – Page 3

Blogtoberfest – Vampire’s Kiss Cocktail

For our third day of #blogtoberfest (click to check out the other posts, both new and old) let’s take a look at our adult beverages. Today’s recipe is for a cocktail, lovingly named Vampire’s Kiss. Quick to mix up, nice to look at, and tasty to boot!

All you need are:

2 ounces raspberry vodka
2 ounces black raspberry liqueur
3 ounces cranberry juice
chilled glassAdd all ingredients to shaker with ice, shake it up, and serve!Enjoy!

recipe courtesy of https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/vampires-kiss-347701

Blogtoberfest -Swallow that Sweet Fear: Halloween Cookie Recipe

It’s cookie recipe day!

If you’re like me, you plan way ahead for any type of party or treat fest because you’ve just GOT to be sure that everything is going to go right.

I worked with my daughter this summer in perfecting her cupcake and frosting recipe so she would have the most lovely cupcakes to take to school for her birthday.

Mind you, I can’t stand everyday cooking, but baking is my thing. I like the fact that it’s fun, short and you get a sweet treat at the end.

Now, I’m giving you this cookie recipe early enough so you have time to experiment with it, mess it up and start again.

Halloween Bat Sugar Cookies – Recipe courtesy of Domino Sugar

YIELDS

3 to 4 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS

Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed Domino® Light Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Domino® Granulated Sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Icing

3 3/4 cups (1-lb pkg.) Domino® Confectioners Sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
6 tablespoons warm water
purple food coloring
1 tube black decorator gel icing

Click HERE for the rest of the recipe.

Happy Baking

Dahlia

Blogtoberfest – Recipes – Cinnamon Sugar Spider Webs

Total Time: 40 min

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 30 min

Yield: about 30 webs

Ingredients

Vegetable oil, for frying
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fine salt
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus 1/4 cup for brushing
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
Jelly spiders, orange or black nonpareils, for garnish, optional

Directions

Pour enough oil in a large skillet so it’s about 1 inch deep. Heat oil over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers between 280 to 300 degree F.

Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center; add the milk, egg, and 1 tablespoon maple syrup. Whisk the dry and wet ingredients together until smooth.

Transfer batter into a large size pastry bag with a # 3 or 4 open tip. Carefully squeeze batter in a circular pattern and then back and forth into the oil, to make a free form spider web-like design, about 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Cook until bottoms are golden, about 2 minutes. Using tongs or slotted spoon, turn fritters over and cook until golden on other side, about 1 minute more. Transfer the fritters to paper towels to drain briefly. Brush lightly with maple syrup and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm or at room temperature alone or with the garnishes.

*You may use a zip bag instead of a pastry bag. Snip a corner to the appropriate size and you’re good.

Courtesy of the Food Network

Blogtoberfest – Poor Fellas and Gals: Dog Halloween Costumes

I have a dog. I think she’s a rather judgy dog. She doesn’t like it when I dress her in her winter coat, even though as a pit bull, she has zero undercoat and needs the insulation in the colder weather. Still, the eyeballing she gives me as she stands there in her Land’s End insulated doggy coat. I mean, come on, what dog can’t look good in Land’s End outerwear? Not Athena. She hates it, and makes it clear she hates me for putting in on her.

However, I won’t be a party to dog Halloween costumes. I find them unwieldy, a pain to put on and something that can really be only worn once a year. The dogs, themselves, seem so….pitiful yet revenge filled when you snap that picture. After one year of one of my dogs dressing as something or other (I really don’t remember), I’ve learned my lesson. However, some humans never learn. Let’s take a look, shall we?

All Pictures courtesy of PartyCity.com, except where noted.

Yoda’s looking like he could drink from the toilet at any moment.

This TinMan looks sad enough to be the REAL TinMan.

Oh yeah, this Superman dressed dog is totally JUDGING you.

This dog has just decided to give in and roll with it, baby.

Blogtoberfest – Not Just “IT”: More Creepy King Stories

From what I’ve heard is that the new IT movie is pretty scary. I have to say “from what I’ve heard’ because I haven’t seen it yet. Nothing like seeing something scary on the big screen to scar you for life and I’m not as young as I used to be.

While being scared on the screen is fun, being scared from words on a page can be even more fun. Yep, I just touted reading above movie watching and you all know how I LOVE reading. Following this, Stephen King has written just a tad few more stories than IT that are guaranteed to take you over the creepy/scared line. Here are five of my favorites.

From Nightshift

Graveyard Shift – Whose nose doesn’t twist at thethought of working in a mildewy, dark, damp basement? Bonus points: it’s hot and there’s rustling in the walls. This is a story that will make you wash your hands after you’ve finished reading it. Don’t forget the hand sanitizer.

Grey Matter – Strange things can grow in beer – something about those hops – and when you guzzle one down without thoroughly examining the contents, bad things happen. I promise you’ll pour your beer in a glass after reading this one. Gross, scary body horror.

Sometimes They Come Back – Like a little melancholy with the heebie-jeebies? Well, this story is perfect for you. A man gets revenge for something that happened in his childhood, but remember, the devil is hell to pay.

Skeleton Crew

The Raft – Those of you who’ve seen Creepshow 2 are familar with this story. Yes, the charactersare archetypes and the whole thing reads like a B-movie script, but you won’t be so eager to jump into the lake next summer, now will you?

The Monkey – Short, but gets under your skin. A haunted toy monkey does….bad things, for lack of a better term….to those who find it and wind it up. I’ve always found those mechanical toys weird anyway, so to find out this monkey was haunted was no big surprise.

And just like that, we;’ve come to the end of our Blogtoberfest visit! Check out some of these King shorts that I mentioned.

Dahlia